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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review April 24, 2009 / 30 Nissan 5769

VOILA! A double agent exposed

By Paul Greenberg


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It's a name to conjure with on Capitol Hill and throughout the country whenever the power of political lobbies is discussed: The National Rifle Association's support or opposition can determine elections in state after state, especially in the red ones, and may provide the decisive swing vote in bluer ones. It can make all the difference even in a presidential election if it's close enough.


No wonder candidates court the NRA's favor, voters go by its recommendations, and the presidential candidate who knows what's good for him will be sure to schedule a photo-op so he can be pictured stalking through the woods like some Natty Bumppo straight out of James Fenimore Cooper. Remember ol' John Kerry hunting grouse or whatever back in 2004, no matter how ungainly he looked and how transparent the pose? There's a reason the NRA is so powerful: It's as American as mom, apple pie, mass mailings and shootin' irons.


But not till now, Gentle Reader, has the full extent of the NRA's clever operation been revealed. Now it can told: In a brilliant move, its political operatives have planted an agent provocateur in the very heart of the opposition. The Hon. Bobby Lee Rush may fool others, but not this hawk-eyed sleuth. Ostensibly he's a true-blue, left-wing lib who represents the First Congressional District on the South Side of Chicago, a founding member of the Black Panther Party before he grew up, and the only American politician ever to best one Barack Obama mano a mano in a political campaign. But that's just his cover. In his secret life, he's obviously in cahoots with the very incarnation of the red-white-and-blue, Second Amendment-revering, concealed-carrying American right: yes, that very same National Rifle Association!


How do I know? Think about it: Why else would Congressman Rush have introduced HR 45, aka the Blair Holt Act, except to generate a bonanza of contributions to the NRA, not to mention a flood of outraged e-mails warning that the Second Amendment is in clear and present danger?


Folks who might not ordinarily genuflect before the gun-rights lobby can recognize when the reasonable regulation of firearms becomes sheer harassment of gun owners. As this clever bill of Mr. Rush's bill does — flagrantly.


The Blair Holt Act he's sponsoring is more than a cheap way to exploit the memory of a 16-year-old honor student shot down as he tried to protect a girl on a public bus in Chicago from gang violence. It's a boomerang of a bill sure to energize NRA members and maybe gun owners in general. Not to mention anybody who can still read the unexpurgated Bill of Rights, including Amendment II. That's the one that says: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."


The title of Congressman Rush's 26-page assault on the Second Amendment gives the reader only a hint of all its aims: To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes. And, boy, those other purposes cover a lot of ground:


HR 45 would oblige every gun owner in the country, after being thumb-printed and passing a government-approved training class, to obtain and carry a firearms license bearing passport-sized photo identification. In order to acquire that license, gun owners would have to prove that they have a government-approved storage place for their firearms. Each sale would be recorded by the U.S. government. The licensed gun owner would then face criminal prosecution if he failed to report every firearm he (or she) owns, or if said gun owner changed residence without informing the Attorney General of the United States, or if his firearm were stolen and the theft went unreported. As for you deer, duck or turkey hunters out there, this means, you, too. No exemptions.


There's more, much more. There would be fees charged for the licenses and unspecified other federal "services" at the time a weapon is purchased. A new license would be required every five years for each firearm. No firearms could be grandfathered into the law. All sales of handguns and semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines, including antiques, would have to go through licensed dealers.


There are so many sweeping provisions in this horse-choker of a bill, space doesn't permit citing all of them. HR 45 is almost Soviet in its sweep, and probably would prove about as effective as that late, unlamented system.


Congressman Rush has all kinds of burdens in mind for law-abiding gun owners; the list above covers only a representative sample of its provisions. I say law-abiding gun owners because, in the highly unlikely event his bill did become law, you can just imagine how little attention would be paid to it by the kind of thug who shot up that bus in Chicago and killed young Blair Holt in the process.


But so far Bobby Rush's proposal hasn't attracted a single co-sponsor. Which figures. It sounds like nothing more than a publicity stunt, a bill only the most virulent anti-gun nut could support.


But, boy, if this bill did pass, can you imagine the nationwide reaction? One result, among others, might be the biggest rightward swing in next year's congressional elections since the Republican landslide of 1994. Which is another reason to suspect that Congressman Rush is just a plant for the gun-rights lobby. Even now it's a good bet the NRA is ginning up a fundraising campaign that uses HR 45 as Exhibit No. 1 to show that the right to bear arms is about to be swept away, so send your contribution in NOW


! Stay tuned. For next I plan to expose Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security. She's just issued an all-points memo telling federal agents to be on the lookout for veterans and "groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."


Ms. Napolitano is obviously another plant of this vast right-wing conspiracy. Why else would she set out to offend — and mobilize — so many Americans? By now she's apologized to the veterans who took offense at her jab (like nobody else would?) but I have yet to see an apology to those Americans who dare voice opposition to abortion or immigration in this politically correct New Order. Or to those of us who believe others' freedom of speech should be as respected as our own.


These double agents, the Bobby Rushes and Janet Napolitanos, can't fool Sherlock Greenberg. I know they're really just provocateurs who've found a way to drum up support for gun rights and free speech. Inspector Clouseau, my hero and role model, would spot 'em in a minute.

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JWR contributor Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Send your comments by clicking here.

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